The Pregnancy Complex
by Mika Casey
Summary: Penny made an announcement that changed Sheldon's life.


**Disclaimer:** The Big Bang Theory characters are (c) Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady.

**Author's Note:** My first Big Bang Theory fic. Please read and review. I adore this couple. Sheldon x Penny.

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_**The Pregnancy Complex **_by Mika Casey**  
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_Penny made an announcement that changed Sheldon's life.

She had been sitting on the kitchen counter when she dropped the bomb. Sheldon was on the couch, flipping through a paper that his boss wanted him to turn in the next day. Penny was clad in the billowing yellow dress that Sheldon thought flattered her figure best, and she had been habitually gnawing on the nail on her left ring finger. Her gaze was directed towards the floor, and she would look up at him from time to time, which meant she had something to say.

"Penny?" Sheldon spoke her name, tilting his head to the side. Her ocean blue eyes met his, but he knew her attention wasn't completely on him. He continued. "Is something bothering you?"

Shutting her eyes tightly, Penny blurted out. "I'm pregnant!"

His jaw dropped.

Sheldon knew that him and Penny had had sexual intercourse a several times starting a few months ago, but he didn't know if she made anything of it. He was simply helping her relieve sexual frustrations, and wasn't worried about conceiving a child because he had thought she was on birth control.

"This must be a mistake..." He was flustered.

Penny shook her head, and a couple golden strands of hair fell into her face. "I forgot to take my pills, okay? And you're definitely the father, because you're the only guy I've been with in eight months. I'm so sorry, Sheldon..." A few tears began to leak from her eyes, and trailed down her perfectly shaped cheeks.

Placing the papers onto the arms of the chair, Sheldon stood and swiftly crossed the room, and stood against the counter that she was sitting on. "There's no need to apologize." He told her, mulling over explanations and relieving comments in his mind. But none turned up that would be suitable to this revelation, so he wrapped her into an awkward hug.

"Everything will be worked out, I promise." He told her, though also trying to console himself.

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Leonard, Howard, and Rajesh were overjoyed to hear that Penny was knocked up.

It was storming heavily outside Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, a week after Penny told Sheldon, when the news was revealed. They knew something big had happened, because Penny had been seated in Sheldon's traditional spot on the couch while he himself had seated himself on the arm of the chair next to her. Penny had made the announcment, and chaos broke loose. Leonard's jaw fused itself shut, Howard was exclaiming how surprised he was that Sheldon wasn't a virgin, and Rajesh had run to the kitchen to make himself a drink.

When everybody was settled back onto the couch, Rajesh with a lime-flavored beer in his hand, Leonard finally managed to speak. "So, what are you planning to do with the baby?"

"Well..." Sheldon answered, nodding in Leonard's direction. "We're definitely keeping it. But other details are yet to be sorted out." He could feel Penny's eyes on him, and it made his insides squirm.

Howard laughed. "Well, I hope it doesn't end up like you, Sheldon! That'll be a nightmare for Penny."

Turning his gaze onto the blonde woman who was sitting in his spot, Sheldon saw her shaking her head. Smiling in Howard's direction, she told him. "Sheldon is one of the most intelligent people I know. The baby would be lucky to get a fraction of his genes."

Sheldon let a slight smile curl up on his lips.

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A few months later, a slight curve began showing on Penny's stomach.

Sheldon drove her to the grocery store to pick up the chocolate ice cream she had been craving for weeks. She was wearing a green tank top that clung to her stomach, making her show much more than when she wore flowing shirts. They wandered through the aisles picking up items needed at both apartments, and Sheldon caught himself staring at the baby bump multiple times.

She caught his eyes on her while she was examing a can of beans. "Sheldon, I don't care if you look. It is your baby, after all."

Pressing his lips together, Sheldon shook his head. "This feels incorrect." He had his hands on the shopping cart, and he was gripping it so tight that his knuckles were pasty white.

Sighing, Penny walked to his side and laced her fingers in his. "I know it feels strange, Sheldon, but we'll get through this together."

Confused for the first time in his life, Sheldon let Penny hold his hand like he was a toddler who didn't know where he was going.

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Under any other circumstance, if Penny asked to gain access to his room, Sheldon would have refused that reminded her that _nobody_ went into his personal quarters.

But these were unusual circumstances. Penny was sleepless and eight months into her pregnancy, telling Sheldon that she was having nightmares. Though Sheldon could have thought of several ways to get her to fall asleep back in her own bedroom, he didn't. Part of him wanted her to stay.

She was curled up next to him, facing him as her eyes fluttered closed. Her face was so elegant and perfect, he didn't understand why all of her acting jobs turned her down. She was _stunning_.

"Penny?" He whispered her name, like a feather floating in a night wind, lost in an oblivion of shadows and moonlight.

Her eyes opened. "Yes, Sheldon?"

"Aren't people supposed to fall in love before they have children?" His emerald eyes were shining with fear and uncertainty, because everything about their encounters seemed wrong to him. But he felt like this was predetermined, that even if the baby had not happened things still would have unfolded this way.

Blinking for a second, Penny thought a moment. "Well, what do you think?"

He paused. He knew for certain what he felt for Penny was more than a primitive sexual attraction, but it frightened him greatly. Still, he saw this as an oppurtunity to leap off into the deep end of those ocean eyes. Shifting so his nose was touching hers and his arm was curling up to tangle with her blonde locks, he muttered. "I think I fell in love with you already. So, yes." He'd never held her like that before, but he found it more exhilarating than when they'd made love.

Tilting his face back so his lips met hers, Sheldon was greeted with such warmth where their mouths met that he took her reponse as an unspoken admission that she felt the same.

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Sheldon had been in the middle of a lecture to a class of college kids when the news came to him that Penny was delivering the baby.

He was now sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed, holding Penny's hand. She had been in labor for thirteen hours by this point, and the doctor had informed him that the baby was crowning. Sheldon was watching her face, the sweat dripping like tears down her cheeks and her hair sticking to her sweaty forehead. She was working so hard, and he felt guilty that he was the reason she was feeling this pain.

A few moments later, the doctor was holding a small human in his hands and drying it off, severing the umbilical chord and showing the baby's face to Penny. She swooned slightly, closing her eyes for a moment.

The doctor got Sheldon's permission to take the baby and clean it off, while Sheldon pressed a damp washcloth to her forehead. Kissing her on the tip of her nose, he whispered to her. "You did a great job, Penny."

"It's a boy!" The doctor told them, bringing back the child wrapped in a blue blanket. He placed the small human in Penny's arms, and Sheldon smiled as his tiny arms and legs shook as he wailed. The boy was soon passed to Sheldon, who admired his dark hair and blue eyes that reflected his mother's.

Penny spoke breathlessly. "Ruben Alexander Cooper." Sheldon and Penny had already discussed names beforehand, even though they had wanted to keep the gender of the baby a surprise.

A couple of nurses ushered Leonard, Howard, Rajesh, and Leslie into the room. Leonard and Leslie got to hold baby Ruben first, being the godparents, while Rajesh made cooing noises and Howard began using his infamous pick-up lines on one of the nurses.

When things were settled and the friends left, Sheldon was left sitting in the chair watching Penny as she breast-fed Ruben.

Sheldon leaned over to kiss her lightly on the lips. "Leonard, Rajesh, and I have already moved all of my stuff into your apartment, as well as the baby furniture."

Penny's eyes sparkled, which still made Sheldon's heart skip a beat. "You're willing to give up your routine and your space? You usually put up such a fight for it." She teased.

Sheldon smiled softly.

"I will settle into a new routine with you and Ruben. The transition will not be difficult, nor do I regret that I have to make it."


End file.
